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EDUCATIONAL 
PLAYS AND DRAMAS 



THE MAN WITHOUT 
A COUNTRY 



BY 



FLORENCE M. MILLER 

Teacher of History, Normal School Filchburg, Mass. 
Author of History in Story, Song and Action 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING CO. 

Boston New York Chicago San Francisco 






NOTE 



The dramatization of this story may be given by upper grammar 
grades. Without scenery, it can be used in regular school-room 
work, after the story has been read and discussed. Combined 
with patriotic music, it makes a good entertainment to be given 
before the parents and friends of the pupils. 

The presentation of the play should give the pupils valuable 
lessons in patriotism and should also increase their historical 
knowledge. They should study the condition of our country 
at the time the story was written, the purpose of the author in 
writing it, and its effect. They should also discuss the period of 
time supposed to be covered by the story, and the changes that 
took place in our country and navy during that period. Special 
consideration should be given to the study of the navy; life on 
shipboard, appropriate costumes, insignia of rank, etc., ought to 
be discussed. 

The costumes are not difficult to provide. Cadet suits may be 
used for the officers. Middy blouses and sailor caps are worn by 
the sailors. 



Copyright, 1917, by Educational Publishing Company 




MflV -4 ?9J7 



THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 



Scene I 

Court-martial at Fort Adams 

Characters 

President of the Court 
Members of the Court 
PhiHp Nolan 
Guard for the prisoner 

(A long table in the center of the stage; chairs arranged 
around the tables; flags, etc., draped at the hack. The 
president sits in the center, with the members of the court 
on either side. Guards stand back of the table. Philip 
Nolan stands in front.) 

President of the court You, Philip Nolan, have been 
fed by the United States for all the years since you have 
been in the army. You have sworn on your faith as a 
Christian to be true to the United States. It is the 
United States which gave you the uniform you wear, 
and the sword by your side. Yet there seems to be 
sufficient evidence to prove that you are sick of the 
service, have been willing to be false to it, and would 
have obe3^ed any order to march anywhere with anyone 
had the order been signed, ''By command of His Ex- 
cellency, A. Burr." Do you wish to say anything to 
show that you have always been faithful to the United 
States? 

3 



Nolan Damn the United States! I wish I may 
never hear of the United States again! 

{Members of the court appear much shocked at the words) 

President The court will adjourn to my private 
room to consider the sentence. 

(President and members of the court leave the stage; they 
return in a few moments and seat themselves at the table 
again. Philip Nolan walks around carelessly while they 
are absent) 

President Prisoner, hear the sentence of the Court! 
The Court decides, subject to the approval of the Presi- 
dent, that you never hear the name of the United States 
again. 

{Nolan laughs at first, but becomes sober when he sees 
how serious every one else looks) 

President Mr. Marshal {one of the guards in back 
comes around to Nolan and puts his hand on his shoulder) 
take the prisoner to Orleans in an armed boat, and de- 
liver him to the naval commander there. Mr. Marshal, 
see that no one mentions the United States to the 
prisoner. Request Lieutenant Mitchell at Orleans to 
order that no one shall mention the United States to 
the prisoner while he is on board ship. You will receive 
your written orders this evening. The court is adjourned 
without day. 

4 . 



)CI.A4B2246 



Scene II 

The prisoner, Philip Nolan, delivered to the captain who is 
to have charge of him for first cruise 

Characters 

Prisoner, Philip Nolan 

Lieutenant Neale, Officer in charge of prisoner 

Captain of ship 

Officers and Sailors 

(The sailors appear to be cleaning the ship and preparing 
to sail. Officers are directing them. The captain is show- 
ing one of the sailors about hoisting the flag. Lieutenant 
Neale comes on board with the prisoner, Philip Nolan. 
The captain and Lieutenant Neale salute. The lieutenant 
hands a paper of instructions to the captain, who takes 
it and reads.) 

Captain {reading) 

Washington, November '25, 1807 

Sir: — You will receive from Lieutenant Neale the 
person of Philip Nolan, late a heu tenant in the United 
Sates Army. 

This person, on his trial by court-martial, expressed, 
with an oath, the wish that he might ^' never hear of the 
United States again." 

The court sentenced him to have his wish fulfilled. 

For the present, the execution of the order of the court 
is intrusted by the President to the Naval Department 
of the Government. 

You will take the prisoner on board your ship, and 
keep him there with such precaution as shall prevent 
his escape. 

5 



The gentlemen on board will make arrangements agree- 
able to themselves regarding his society. He is to be 
exposed to no indignity of any kind, nor is he ever un- 
necessarily to be reminded that he is a prisoner. 

But under no circiumstance is he ever to hear of his 
country, or to see any information regarding it; and you 
will especially caution all the officers under your com- 
mand to take care that this rule shall not be broken. 

It is the intention of the Government that he shall 
never again see the country which he has disowned. 
Before the end of your cruise you will receive orders 
which will give effect to this intention. 

Respectfully yours, 

W. Southard, for the 

Secretary of the Navy 

Scene III 

On shipboard^ first cruise 

Characters 
Officers 
Philip Nolan 

{Officers seated on deck, newspapers and hooks near 
them) 

First Officer Here is something cut out right in the 
middle of an interesting article in this paper! 

Second Officer Yes, you ought to have got hold of it 
before the captain cut it up for The Man without a 
Country; you know he cuts out everything that has the 
least reference to the United States in it before he lets 
him read any papers or books. 

First Officer Who do you mean by "The Man with- 
out a Country"? 

6 



t 



Second Officer Why, Mr. Nolan, of course. You 
have heard about him, but I forgot that you have just 
joined the service and haven't heard all the rules the 
captain observes in regard to him. We call Nolan ''The 
Man without a Country," or some of the men call him 
"Plain-Buttons," because, though he wears a regula- 
tion army uniform, he is not allowed to wear the army- 
button on account of its bearing either the initials or the 
insignia of the country he has disowned. 

Third Officer It is the turn of our mess to have him at 
dinner to-morrow; and when he is present we are not 
allowed to talk of home or anything which has to do with 
the United States. The captain always asks him to din- 
ner on Monday. 

Second Officer {picks up a hook) Is Nolan going to be 
allowed to join us this afternoon, when we read from this 
new EngHsh book that I borrowed from an officer when 
we touched at the Cape a few days ago? 

Fourth Officer Yes, none of us have read the ''Lay 
of the Last Minstrel," but we know it's about chivalry 
and things long, long ago. The captain says that there 
can't be anything national in it. Ah! here comes Nolan 
now. He tries to make beheve that he is enjoying the 
voyage and that his imprisonment is a mere farce. 

{Nolan comes up and joins the group.) 

Second Officer This is a new book, Mr. Nolan. None 
of us have read it before, but we are enjoying the reading 
very much. Won't you go on with the reading? 

{Nolan sits down, takes the hook, and reads a jew lines, 
then comes to the following) 

7 



Nolan (reading) 

"Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said, 
'This is my own, my native land!'" 

{Officers look uneasily at each other. Nolan hesitates, hut 
goes on with the reading.) 

"Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 
From wandering on a foreign strand? — 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well" — 

{Officers move uneasily. Nolan colors, afid reads on 
brokenly) 

"For him no minstrel raptures swell; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim, 
Despite these titles, power, and pelf. 
The wretch, concentred all in self" — 

{Nolan chokes, starts up, flings the book from him, and 
rushes from the deck.) 

Scene IV 

Ball on board an American ship lying in the Bay of 
Naples 

(This scene may be omitted, but if very little scenery is used so 
that there is room on the stage for the dances and if old-fashioned 
costumes can be obtained for the girls, it would make a pretty 
scene and give variety to the entertainment.) 

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Characters 

Officers or Sailors 

Philip Nolan 

vSome English and American Women staying at Naples at 

the time, and invited to the ball 
Negro Band 

{Captain and some of the officers come on deck and 
salute) 

Captain Remember that you are responsible in re- 
gard to Mr. Nolan. You are to take turns in standing 
near him to see that he does not talk with anyone who 
will tell him anything of home. 

Officers {saluting) We will be responsible, sir. 

{Enter Nolan with another officer. Ladies also enter 
and are greeted by the captain and officers. American 
dances — "Virginia Reel/^ "Money Musk J ^ and "The 
Old Thirteen.^^ Officers in turn stand at one side and talk 
with Nolan. Finally between dances an American woman 
comes near them.) 

Nolan {bowing to the woman) I hope you have not for- 
gotten me, Miss Rutledge. Shall I have the honor of 
dancing? 

Mrs. Graf I am not Miss Rutledge any longer, Mr. 
Nolan ; but I will dance all the same. 

{She nods to the offi.cer in charge and they go offi to dance) 

{A pause in the dance ) 

Nolan And what do you hear from home, Mrs. 
Graff? 

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Mrs. Graf {looking straight at him) Home! Mr. 
Nolan! I thought you were the man who never wanted 
to hear of home again ! 

{She walks ojf and leaves Nolan alone.) 

Scene V 
On shipboard, one of Nolan's later cruises 

Characters 
Captain 
Officers of ship 
Philip Nolan 
Negroes (captured from slave-ship) 

{Some officers and Nolan are on deck. Captain enters.) 

Captain We have brought on board the negroes from 
the slave-schooner we have just overhauled. Two of 
these negroes have worked for the Portuguese on the 
coast of Fernando Po. Do any of you speak Portuguese 
so that you can interpret? 

Nolan I shall be glad to interpret. 

{Vaughan, an officer on the ship, and the negroes enter.) 

Vaughan For God's love, is there anybody who can 
make these wretches understand something? I talked 
Choctaw to all of them together, and I'll be hanged if 
they understood that as well as they understood the 
English. 

Nolan I can speak Portuguese. 

{Vaughan brings two of the negroes up closer to Nolan.) 

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Vaughan Tell them they are free. 

(Nolan explains to negroes; they dance and leap, and kiss 
Nolan's hands and feet. The two negroes in front explain 
to the others, who also show their joy.) 

Vaughan Tell them that I will take them all to Cape 
Palmas. 

(Nolan tells the negroes.) 

Negroes Ah, non Palmas! Non Palmas! 

(The two negroes in front tell Nolan other things; then 
they speak to the other negroes and afterward to Nolan again) 

Vaughan What do they say? 

Nolan (hushes the negroes, wipes his forehead, and speaks 
with great difficulty and emotion) He says (taking hold 
of one of negroes) "Non Palmas." He says, ''Take us 
home, take us to our own country, take us to our own 
house, take us to our own pickaninnies and our own 
women." He says he has an old father and mother 
who will die if they do not see him. And this one [point- 
ing to another) says he left his people all sick, and paddled 
down to Fernando to beg the white doctor to come and 
help them, and that these devils caught him in the bay 
just in sight of home, and that he has never seen anybody 
from home since then. And this one says (choked out 
Nolan) that he has not heard a word from his home in 
six months, while he has been locked up in an infernal 
barracoon." 

13 



Vaughan (as quick as he can speak the words) Tell them 
*'Yes, yes, yes ! Tell them they shall go to the Mountains 
of the Moon, if they will. If I sail the schooner through 
the Great White Desert, they shall go home!" 

{Nolan tells them; they dance and kiss him again. Then 
Vaughan takes the negroes to the hack of the stage, while 
Nolan and a young officer go to the front of the stage to- 
gether.) 

Nolan Youngster, let that show you what it is to be 
without a family, without a home, and without a country. 
And if you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a 
thing that shall put a bar between you and your family, 
your home, and your country, pray God in His mercy to 
take you that instant home to His own heaven. Stick 
by your family, boy; forget that you have a self, while 
you do everything for them. Think of your home, boy; 
write and send and talk about it. Let it be nearer and 
nearer to your thoughts, the farther you have to travel 
from it; and rush back to it when you are free, as these 
poor black slaves are doing now. And for your country, 
boy, and for that flag {pointing to the flag), never dream 
a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though the 
service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter 
what happens to you, no matter who flatters you or 
who abuses you, never look at another flag, never let 
a night pass but you pray God to bless that flag. Re- 
member, boy, that behind all these men you have to do 
with, behind officers and government, and people, even, 
there is the country Herself, your Country, and that 
you belong to Her as you belong to your own mother. 
Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother. 

14 



Young officer I will. I never thought of doing 
anything else. 

Nolan {turning away and speaking to himself) O, if 
anybody had said so to me when I was your age ! 

Scene VI 

On shipboard, Nolan's last cruise 

Characters 

Captain of ship 

Danforth 

Doctor 

(Captain enters from one side of stage; Danforth from 
the other. They meet in the center and salute.) 

Captain Have you seen Mr. Nolan to-day, Danforth? 
He has failed greatly in strength during this voyage, and 
the doctor has been watching him very carefully. 

Danforth Nolan has not left his stateroom to-day; 
but this morning for the first time he asked me to come 
and see him there. What a shrine he has made of his 
room! I could not help looking at the Stars and Stripes 
up above and around a picture of Washington; at the 
majestic eagle that he has painted; and the great map of 
the United States which he has drawn from memory. 
"O Danforth/' he said, when I entered, ''I cannot get 
home! Surely you will tell me something now! You 
must know there is not in this ship, there is not in 
America — God bless her! — a more loyal man than I. 
There cannot be a man who loves the old flag as I do 
or prays for it as I do." Captain, I swear to you that I 
felt like a monster that I had not told him everything be- 

15 



fore. I did my best and told him all I could think of 
that would show the greatness of our country; but it 
was a hard thing to condense the history of half a century 
into that talk with a sick man. I cannot tell you how 
he drank it in and enjoyed it! Finally he asked me to 
bring the ''Book of PubHc Prayer," and together we 
read the prayer for our country and the President of the 
United States. "Danforth," he said, ''I have repeated 
those prayers night and morning, it is now fifty-five 
years." Then he said he would go to sleep and I came 
away. 

{Doctor enters) 

Captain Here comes the doctor. He will tell us how 
Mr. Nolan is now. 

{Doctor salutes the captain.) 

Doctor Mr. Nolan is dead, Captain. When I went in 
to see him just now, I found him very weak and he only 
lived a few minutes. 

Captain He has found a home at last and a country. 

Doctor {to Danforth) He told me, just before he died, 
to give you this. (Hands him a Bible.) 

Danforth {opens the Bible and takes out a slip of paper. 
Reads) ''Bury me in the sea; it has been my home and 
I love it. But will not some one set up a stone for my 
memory at Fort Adams or at Orleans, that my disgrace 
may not be more than I ought to bear? Say on it: 

In Memory of Philip Nolan 

"Lieutenant in the Army of the United States 

"He loved his country as no other man has loved her 

but no man deserved less at her hands" 

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